Britain falls to eighth place in WEF global competitiveness index

UK drops two places as World Economic Forum warns Brexit holds risk of further decline

Britain has dropped two places to eighth in an influential global competitiveness index, with the risk of Brexit further damaging its international standing.

The World Economic Forum (WEF), which runs the annual Davos gathering of business and political leaders, said that the UK had been overtaken by Hong Kong and Japan on its annual ranking of the world’s 140 most competitive economies.